Lorenzo Musetti and Luciano Darderi, star-studded night at the Foro Italico

The long day of matches at the Internazionali d’Italia ended with a double smile in the men’s draw as Lorenzo Musetti and Luciano Darderi grabbed qualification in the third round, beating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Yannick Hanfmann, respectively. The victories of the two Azzurri matched another evening success, that in the women’s second round of Elisabetta Cocciaretto over Emma Navarro.

Musetti, the number 8 seed in the tournament, defeated with a double 6-4 Frenchman Mpetshi Perricard, executioner in the previous round of Britain’s Jacob Fearnley. The Carrarino was almost always in control of the match, if we exclude a small lapse in the fourth game of the second set, the only one won by the Frenchman on opponent’s serve.

Same score for Darderi against the ATP number 59: unlike Musetti, however, Darderi only needed two breaks throughout the match, as the German failed to win a game on the Italian-Argentinean’s serve. The two matches also had similar durations: Musetti’s lasted 88′, Darderi’s 91′.

The two Azzurri already know the names of their next opponents: Musetti will face Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who defeated another South American, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, in two sets, while Darderi will face a heavyweight opponent of the caliber of Tommy Paul, world number 18 and executioner, in the previous round, of Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic with a rather clear 6-4, 6-2.